Nationals starter A.J. Cole and Pirates left fielder Sean Rodriguez were ejected as the dugouts emptied during the third inning Sunday.
Cole threw the first pitch of the at-bat against Jung Ho Kang behind Kang’s head. Home plate umpire Jordan Baker immediately ejected Cole. It took a few minutes, but the benches eventually cleared, with Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli exhibiting the most displeasure from the Pirates and Jayson Werth for the Nats.
Rodriguez eventually went after someone, and Gerrit Cole and David Freese had to hold him back.
It’s unclear at this time, but possible, that the Nationals were upset about a feint tag from Kang as Bryce Harper approached third base on a triple in the top half of the inning. Harper slid awkwardly and left the game after scoring a run.
Other notes:
Pirates GM Neal Huntington on Starling Marte, who did not start today: “His body continues to not cooperate with him.” Manager Clint Hurdle said Marte saw another doctor Saturday as he continues to deal with back spasms and tightness.
Asked whether starting Tyler Glasnow had more to do with him being the best option or looking to get him experience with the Pirates almost eliminated, Huntington said, “Little bit of both. Loved the way Steve Brault competes and love what he can become. Tyler learned some incredible lessons in his three or four outings in the bullpen. The aggressiveness, simplified the approach, simplified the thought process and attack. We wanted to see how he could translate that back into the rotation, which is what he did in the minor leagues. For some reason at the major league level, he backed off a little bit. Instead of attacking and utilizing his stuff, he tried to pitch more than maybe we needed him to.”
Before the game, Huntington was asked about bringing Rodriguez back: “Little bit of both. Loved the way Steve Brault competes and love what he can become. Tyler learned some incredible lessons in his three or four outings in the bullpen. The aggressiveness, simplified the approach, simplified the thought process and attack. We wanted to see how he could translate that back into the rotation, which is what he did in the minor leagues. For some reason at the major league level, he backed off a little bit. Instead of attacking and utilizing his stuff, he tried to pitch more than maybe we needed him to.”
Interesting comment from Huntington during an answer about Andrew McCutchen’s poor defensive metrics: “There seems to be more balls hit over his head this year. Some of those aren’t his fault, some of those are mine, based on the pitchers that we put on the mound.”
First Published: September 25, 2016, 7:16 p.m.
